


of hairpins and little brothers

by HuiLian



Category: The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner
Genre: Gen, a crashcourse in stealing hairpins by gen's mom and sisters, am i only appealing to a very small part of the fandom who cared about gen's mom and sisters???, no, the forbidden sisters!, will i stop writing about them?, yes - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:20:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27977994
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HuiLian/pseuds/HuiLian
Summary: “What do you have to say for yourself, thief?” Euphemia asked the boy.“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” he answered.A chuckle came from behind Xenia. “If you’re caught, you’re caught, Eugenides,” their mother said. She walked to them, pausing to give Xenia and Euphemia a quick tap on the cheek, before bending down so that her face is on a level with Gen’s. “And if you’re caught,” she tilted her head, “well, you have to pay the price.” She tapped Gen’s nose and continued. “So next time, don’t get caught.”---or, how did Gen get so good at stealing hairpins? Well, with his mother and sisters' help, of course!
Relationships: Eugenides & Eugenides' Mother | Queen Thief, Eugenides & Eugenides' Sisters (Queen's Thief), Eugenides' Mother | Queen Thief & Her Children
Comments: 10
Kudos: 27





	of hairpins and little brothers

**Author's Note:**

> am i procrastinating on studying by writing very niche QT fics? why, yes of course. 
> 
> enjoy this little piece of silliness, which is somewhat inspired by the dancing scene on KoA, because knowing _exactly_ what pins to take to get the hair to go down is some skills, people.

Xenia was talking to Euphemia about the different techniques of dyeing wool when she felt the pins holding her hair up slide across her scalp and disappear, one by one. It was very subtle, and anyone other than members of their family wouldn’t notice it. 

Well, not really. Father wouldn’t notice it either, but then he always wears his hair clipped short and would never need any hairpins anyway. 

It was the subtlety that confirmed to Xenia who was taking her pins out of her hair. A small smile escaped her. She decided that she would let him figure out on his own the intricacies that are pin placements designed to hold a mountain of hair up. If it was not Mother that send him to do this, it was Grandfather, and anyway, learning how to steal hairpins is a good skill. As is learning the placement of them.

Xenia kept talking, acting as if she didn’t notice anything. Euphemia gave her a meaningful look, and she responded with a wink, because to move her head would be to tell the little thief behind her, with his hands on her hair, that she knew about him. Thankfully, Euphemia seemed to understand, because she too kept on talking. 

A few more of her pins disappeared, getting closer and closer to that one pin that holds almost everything up. Xenia waited until she felt that pin move, and then, with a glance at her sister, turned around and clasped her hands onto the much, much smaller hands of her youngest brother. 

“Got you!” she cried out.

Gen didn’t even falter. He simply gave her a toothy smile that she would _not_ trust, at all. All of them have been burned too often by that smile to truly believe it now. “What for?” he asked. 

Xenia gave Gen a look, and, seeing Euphemia was ready behind him, swiped him up and trapped him in her arms. There was no other way to deal with the boy when he was doing his thieving. Something Mother taught him, which was apparently affirmed by the training the Thief of Eddis was giving him. Eugenides wriggled in her arms, but he was small and she was far stronger than him. Her grip didn’t falter. 

She dreaded the day he got too big to be picked up easily. 

Somewhere behind Gen, Euphemia got to work on rattling the various pockets on Gen’s clothing. There are pockets amongst pockets amongst pockets, and it might be confusing for other people, but Gen also learned _that_ particular trick from their mother, and they knew about them. 

She emerged with her eyebrows raised and her hands empty, which was to be expected. Xenia switched her grip to hold Gen with one hand, while the other she kept clasped on his hands. Euphemia’s expression turned mischevious, before she got back to work on searching their little brother’s sleeves. 

And sure enough, the moment Euphemia opened the cuffs on Eugenides’s sleeves, Xenia’s pins tumbled out, landing on the ground with little clangs. Euphemia took over holding Gen’s hands, so Xenia switched her grip again to hold Eugenides more firmly under his armpits. 

“What do you have to say for yourself, _thief_?” Euphemia asked the boy. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about?” he answered.

A chuckle came from behind Xenia. “If you’re caught, you’re caught, Eugenides,” their mother said. She walked to them, pausing to give Xenia and Euphemia a quick tap on the cheek, before bending down so that her face is on a level with Gen’s. “And if you’re caught,” she tilted her head, “well, you have to pay the price.” She tapped Gen’s nose and continued. “So next time, don’t get caught.”

Xenia couldn’t see Gen’s face, but she could very well imagine the scowl he had on his face. She smothered her laughter. No use in showing her little brother how much amusement she’s getting out of this. 

Mother glanced up, and, with a smirk of her own, said, “So, Xenia. Have you decided on what price you want our little thief here to pay?”

She _has_ , but no harm in letting Gen sweat a bit. “I don’t know, Mother. What do you think, Euphemia?”

“Oh, I think he should dye your wool for you, Xenia.”

“Hm… what about mucking the stables?” she teased.

She felt Gen stiffen underneath her grip, and couldn’t keep her laughter in anymore. Gen and horses. “I’m just kidding, brat. Just distract Father the next time I sneak out. You do that by yourself anyway.”

“That’s it?” Gen asked. 

“And give me back my pins,” Xenia said, because if she didn’t specify it, she would never see them again. 

Gen let out a sound of deepest disappointment, but eventually agreed. Xenia put him down gingerly, not wanting to experience the various attacks that she knew he could do, because one can never be too careful with Eugenides. 

The moment his feet touched the ground, Gen moved to run away, but Mother took his arm before he could take a step.

“Not so fast, Genny,” she said. “We still have to work on your pin stealing skills.” She looked up at them and asked, “Do you want to stay?”

“Wouldn’t miss it for anything,” Xenia answered immediately while Euphemia said, “Of course!”

Mother gave them a smile, before turning back to Gen. “The first thing you have to remember is that a hairpin, unlike any other jewelry, is next to the hair _and_ scalp. So you have to …”

They ended up practicing their hairpins stealing skills for so long, that they didn’t realize it was dinner time. Father had to come get them, and when he did, he was greeted with the sight of Gen surrounded by the three of them, with their pins scattered on the ground next to them and their hair all over the place. 

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading! leave a kudos and comment on your way out, maybe?
> 
> come talk to me on tumblr (huilian.tumblr.com), which is gaining QT's content in alarming speed.


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